Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Joint Statement
National Negotiating Committee Joint Statement
January 2009
On Monday 19th January 2009, the Trades Unions and Company National Negotiating
Committee (NNC) met to continue discussions.
The agenda was as follows:
- 2008 Outstanding Activities
• Bargaining Structures
• R&P Agreement
• Employee Handbook
- Business Update
- Proposed Business programme for 2009
2008 Outstanding Activities
Bargaining Structures, R&P Agreement & Employee Handbook
A revised Bargaining Structure is being worked up by the CWG and will be put to the Officers of the Joint Trades Unions to finalise and sign off. Until then, the Company and Joint Trades Unions will continue with the trial bargaining structures currently being used.
A new Recognition, Procedural and Facilities Agreement has been drafted. Final sign off will take place when the Bargaining Structures section has been finalised.
A revised Employee Handbook has been drafted. Final sign off will take place when a number of policies, including Local Agreements, have been ratified.
The terms and conditions section will then form our substantive agreement as referred to in the revised contracts of employment.
The CWG will meet on 2nd February to review and conclude discussions on the Employee
Handbook.
Business Update
At the half way point in its financial year HDNL was behind plan and making a bigger loss than was budgeted for. The Company was already losing business due to aggressive competition in pricing and services. The financial climate has made it even more difficult to overcome these losses.
HDNL has had to concentrate on stabilising the business and mitigating further loss by
- developing new services to try to win more volume from current and existing clients
- driving efficiencies to reduce operating costs.
While there has been some success in these areas, the amount of capacity in the logistics industry as a whole far exceeds the demand, and this is set to continue or worsen.
Volumes for Peak were flat year on year, and whilst the business managed costs
successfully, this alone was not enough to recover the financial position for the current year.
Further erosion of the market is anticipated and HDNL needs to plan for the future to avoid
further losses. The retail sector in-particular is being hit by the recession. Many well known
retailers have gone into administration. It is predicted that more retailers will go under in
2009. This has a direct affect on the home delivery business.
In spite of the significant changes which were made, and received your support and
commitment in the past year, more needs to be done to build an operating model and pricing
structure that is competitive and fit to stand the current market.
Price is now key in the home delivery market, more so than service, therefore HDNL must become more efficient and reduce the cost base in order to re-invest in price to win new customers and bigger volumes.
HDNL is currently reliant on the Shareholders to fund the losses and keep the Company in business. To retain Shareholder confidence a number of changes must quickly be delivered successfully.
The Shareholders have committed to investing over £30million to the change programme,
which together with successful implementation of new ways of working will:
• Improve services
• Improve efficiencies
• Improve benefits
• Control costs
• Develop new technology
The proposed change programme is as follows
Proposed Site closures
A detailed review of depot capacity took place with external consultants. HDNL has more capacity in the operation than needed.
HDNL is currently paying for this through:
- depot lease costs and building maintenance
- people and structure (depots, sort, transport)
- utility bills
It has been identified that operating costs would be further reduced by closing some depots.
HDNL are therefore proposing to close the following depots in the one man network:
Daventry
Newcastle (1man and 2man out base)
Sheffield
Burslem
Basildon
Eastleigh
These depots were identified based on a number of factors including; operating cost (transport, delivery, site, running costs etc), capacity to handle current and future parcel volume, geographic location and impact on service and employees.
It is proposed that the closure of these depots takes place by 22nd February 2009. All employees at the 6 proposed depots will be impacted by the closures and have been briefed on Tuesday 20th January.
A consultation group will be formulated to discuss the details of the proposed closures.
One to one sessions will be held with every impacted individual to discuss the options available.
Although all of the jobs at the affected sites are at risk of redundancy, through the
consultation process, there may be opportunities for relocation to other sites.
As part of the planning process a round restructure including postcode re-allocations will be conducted to consolidate volumes from closing sites into alternative depots.
Depot Operating model & New Markets and New Services
Introduction of Rostering & Route scheduling
It is proposed that a route scheduling system is implemented into the one man operation.
This would pre-plan a driver’s route and determine which parcels to take each day.
This would be supported by a Satellite Navigation system integrated into the Hand Held Terminals.
To support this proposed new way of working, a new working week structure and associated pay scheme will need to be agreed and implemented. Part of this negotiation will include a proposal on contractual Saturday working.
‘Received Into Depot’ (RID)
Currently the RID scan is applied to every parcel at the depot using a symbol scanner via a mainly dedicated scan position. The Symbol scanner is old technology, has no support contract and the IT network infrastructure used is no longer supported.
It is proposed that “knuckle scanners” that are “hands free” be introduced to improve efficiency.
This would involve:
• Removing inbound scan’s
• Replacing CN3’s with knuckle scanners
• Adding EDD to sort scan and load to van
Integration of HHT and PAVI
Audits have highlighted discrepancies between the payroll system and actual deliveries. This
has resulted in inaccurate payments to drivers. To eliminate discrepancies, it is proposed that the HHT’s and the PAVI system are integrated.
This will ensure drivers are paid accurately and therefore reduce administration costs.
Timed Services
It is proposed to introduce timed delivery slots to clients as follows:
• Nominated day
• AM: Mon-Sat
• PM: Mon-Fri
• Evening delivery (17:00 – 21:00)
This has the potential to generate additional revenues from both existing client volume switching to this premium service and new clients coming to HDNL.
Late Seal
The current seal time at HDNL sort centres restricts the businesses ability to attract/retain 24hr next day delivery parcel volume from key Clients.
This volume is therefore handled by HDNL competition and is a threat to the HDNL business.
The proposal is to introduce a later seal time to enable the business to win additional next day volume.
Mid Range Service
Currently HDNL lack a mid-range (weight/cube) parcel delivery solution. HDNL therefore lose the opportunity to handle significant parcel volumes at a premium price. It is planned to offer a mid-range service to customers. To enable this, it is proposed that the one man operation handle items such as bikes which will create significant additional revenue.
Drop & Collect
Drop & Collect is a unique service which allows customer to drop off return parcels to a local shop through PayPoint instead of waiting for a driver to collect from their home. The driver would then pick up all collections from the local shop.
A trial has been taking place in the West Midlands for Shop Direct Group and it is proposed to roll out this service nationwide from March – May 2009. This new service provides a unique selling point (USP) for HDNL, differentiating HDNL from competitors.
Customer Experience
Since the formation of HDNL, Shop Direct Contact Centres (SDCC)- previously Optimum Contact solutions, has been the supplier of customer contact services.
The service contract came to an end this year. Following a thorough selection process, HDNL has selected Vertex to be the new supplier. Vertex is a leading UK provider of contact centre services and technology solutions with expertise in customer management.
This means that from Spring 2009 SDCC will no longer provide customer services for HDNL.
Through the partnership with Vertex, HDNL will be able to provide enhanced client and customer services which will put HDNL ahead of the competition in a number of areas
including:
- Proactive communication to increase RFT on difficult to deliver parcels.
- Effective communication to manage customer expectation where appropriate.
- Choice of redelivery options to best suit customer needs.
- Underpinning customer and client promise through integration with Track & Trace technology.
- Introducing a full range of contact channels targeted to reduce the overall contact
cost.
- The integration of client service within the contact service partner.
- The integration of depot customer service through virtual contact centre technology.
As a result of this change the client services operation will be impacted. It is proposed that the employees at Whiston be transferred to Vertex’s Knowsley site and be employed by Vertex.
Three new customer service related roles will be created within HDNL at Whiston.
In addition, the following changes to the Customer Experience are proposed:
• SMS - To allow customers the ability to nominate day of delivery for certain parcel types (e.g. POD, Failed Parcels – only applies to parcels when a valid phone number is provided).
• Replace the current carded process with a process that allows consumer choice and reduces the number of attempts required. Includes (HHT changes, depot sort change, card change, unique card number + barcode, GPS validation)
• The addition of re-delivery choice in line with premium services.
• The integration of stop and return requests with Track & Trace and HHT
• Create additional customer communication channels (Customer Web Portal, e-mail)
• Replace OTIS with a integrated Client Portal including work flow management and automation.
• Enhanced depot technology to facilitate a ‘single view of the parcel’ approach to
customer management. To be integrated with Vertex systems.
• Establish a customer management structure.
• Development of the depot administration function to align with an integrated customer management capability.
The Customer Experience Programme creates a fully integrated customer contact solution to enable more effective management of both customer and client experience to deliver a best- in-class customer service.
This has a significant impact on reducing failure costs within HDNL.
Specialised Operations
The 2 Man operation has also been experiencing a serious fluctuation in volumes. Forecasts indicate a substantial volume reduction in the second half of this financial year and into 2009/2010.
HDNL are proposing to close the Edmonton hub by September 2009 and transfer the volume predominantly to Blackpole. This will result in all colleagues in Edmonton and associated outbases being affected.
The proposal is to implement a phased run-down of Edmonton with redundancies taking effect between 1 April and 30 September 2009.
A consultation group has been formulated to discuss the details of the proposed closure. The first meeting is scheduled for 30th January 2009.
One to one sessions will be held with every impacted individual to discuss the options available. The decision may not result in redundancy for all colleagues. There may be opportunities for relocation at another site or within the business.
In addition to the Edmonton closure further work to manage costs and improve the efficiency of the operation is proposed as follows:
- Centralisation of the customer services function. The proposal is to either centralise the function in the Blackpole area or outsource it to an external service provider.
- A review of staffing levels across all sites
- A review of working practices to support additional Saturday and evening services.
- The pay and bonus scheme will also be reviewed
Next Steps
Groups have been set up to start the consultation process in relation to the proposals listed
within the statement. The consultation process will include looking at the business case,
assessing the impacts on the business and employees and time scales .
Some of these proposals will create efficiencies within HDNL and therefore, it is proposed that
a review of staffing levels take place in areas impacted by the proposed changes.. It is
anticipated this review will result in further redundancies during 2009
HDNL believe that the proposed changes are absolutely vital in safeguarding the business for
the future. The Company and The Joint Trade Unions will review the business case as part of
the consultation process.
The Shareholders have confidence in the potential for this business and have therefore
agreed to investing the funds required to make the changes. If the business can implement
the new service propositions proposed, whilst driving down costs, there is a bright future for
HDNL in the home delivery industry.
This will be a challenging and difficult time for the business and it’s employees. The commitment of all employees in getting behind the change programme is vital.
We will keep you updated on the consultation process. If you have any questions or concerns please speak to your line manager or shop steward. Questions can be sent to
HDNLinternalcommunications@hdnl.co.uk who will answer directly back to your site or direct the question to the consultation group as appropriate.
January 2009
On Monday 19th January 2009, the Trades Unions and Company National Negotiating
Committee (NNC) met to continue discussions.
The agenda was as follows:
- 2008 Outstanding Activities
• Bargaining Structures
• R&P Agreement
• Employee Handbook
- Business Update
- Proposed Business programme for 2009
2008 Outstanding Activities
Bargaining Structures, R&P Agreement & Employee Handbook
A revised Bargaining Structure is being worked up by the CWG and will be put to the Officers of the Joint Trades Unions to finalise and sign off. Until then, the Company and Joint Trades Unions will continue with the trial bargaining structures currently being used.
A new Recognition, Procedural and Facilities Agreement has been drafted. Final sign off will take place when the Bargaining Structures section has been finalised.
A revised Employee Handbook has been drafted. Final sign off will take place when a number of policies, including Local Agreements, have been ratified.
The terms and conditions section will then form our substantive agreement as referred to in the revised contracts of employment.
The CWG will meet on 2nd February to review and conclude discussions on the Employee
Handbook.
Business Update
At the half way point in its financial year HDNL was behind plan and making a bigger loss than was budgeted for. The Company was already losing business due to aggressive competition in pricing and services. The financial climate has made it even more difficult to overcome these losses.
HDNL has had to concentrate on stabilising the business and mitigating further loss by
- developing new services to try to win more volume from current and existing clients
- driving efficiencies to reduce operating costs.
While there has been some success in these areas, the amount of capacity in the logistics industry as a whole far exceeds the demand, and this is set to continue or worsen.
Volumes for Peak were flat year on year, and whilst the business managed costs
successfully, this alone was not enough to recover the financial position for the current year.
Further erosion of the market is anticipated and HDNL needs to plan for the future to avoid
further losses. The retail sector in-particular is being hit by the recession. Many well known
retailers have gone into administration. It is predicted that more retailers will go under in
2009. This has a direct affect on the home delivery business.
In spite of the significant changes which were made, and received your support and
commitment in the past year, more needs to be done to build an operating model and pricing
structure that is competitive and fit to stand the current market.
Price is now key in the home delivery market, more so than service, therefore HDNL must become more efficient and reduce the cost base in order to re-invest in price to win new customers and bigger volumes.
HDNL is currently reliant on the Shareholders to fund the losses and keep the Company in business. To retain Shareholder confidence a number of changes must quickly be delivered successfully.
The Shareholders have committed to investing over £30million to the change programme,
which together with successful implementation of new ways of working will:
• Improve services
• Improve efficiencies
• Improve benefits
• Control costs
• Develop new technology
The proposed change programme is as follows
Proposed Site closures
A detailed review of depot capacity took place with external consultants. HDNL has more capacity in the operation than needed.
HDNL is currently paying for this through:
- depot lease costs and building maintenance
- people and structure (depots, sort, transport)
- utility bills
It has been identified that operating costs would be further reduced by closing some depots.
HDNL are therefore proposing to close the following depots in the one man network:
Daventry
Newcastle (1man and 2man out base)
Sheffield
Burslem
Basildon
Eastleigh
These depots were identified based on a number of factors including; operating cost (transport, delivery, site, running costs etc), capacity to handle current and future parcel volume, geographic location and impact on service and employees.
It is proposed that the closure of these depots takes place by 22nd February 2009. All employees at the 6 proposed depots will be impacted by the closures and have been briefed on Tuesday 20th January.
A consultation group will be formulated to discuss the details of the proposed closures.
One to one sessions will be held with every impacted individual to discuss the options available.
Although all of the jobs at the affected sites are at risk of redundancy, through the
consultation process, there may be opportunities for relocation to other sites.
As part of the planning process a round restructure including postcode re-allocations will be conducted to consolidate volumes from closing sites into alternative depots.
Depot Operating model & New Markets and New Services
Introduction of Rostering & Route scheduling
It is proposed that a route scheduling system is implemented into the one man operation.
This would pre-plan a driver’s route and determine which parcels to take each day.
This would be supported by a Satellite Navigation system integrated into the Hand Held Terminals.
To support this proposed new way of working, a new working week structure and associated pay scheme will need to be agreed and implemented. Part of this negotiation will include a proposal on contractual Saturday working.
‘Received Into Depot’ (RID)
Currently the RID scan is applied to every parcel at the depot using a symbol scanner via a mainly dedicated scan position. The Symbol scanner is old technology, has no support contract and the IT network infrastructure used is no longer supported.
It is proposed that “knuckle scanners” that are “hands free” be introduced to improve efficiency.
This would involve:
• Removing inbound scan’s
• Replacing CN3’s with knuckle scanners
• Adding EDD to sort scan and load to van
Integration of HHT and PAVI
Audits have highlighted discrepancies between the payroll system and actual deliveries. This
has resulted in inaccurate payments to drivers. To eliminate discrepancies, it is proposed that the HHT’s and the PAVI system are integrated.
This will ensure drivers are paid accurately and therefore reduce administration costs.
Timed Services
It is proposed to introduce timed delivery slots to clients as follows:
• Nominated day
• AM: Mon-Sat
• PM: Mon-Fri
• Evening delivery (17:00 – 21:00)
This has the potential to generate additional revenues from both existing client volume switching to this premium service and new clients coming to HDNL.
Late Seal
The current seal time at HDNL sort centres restricts the businesses ability to attract/retain 24hr next day delivery parcel volume from key Clients.
This volume is therefore handled by HDNL competition and is a threat to the HDNL business.
The proposal is to introduce a later seal time to enable the business to win additional next day volume.
Mid Range Service
Currently HDNL lack a mid-range (weight/cube) parcel delivery solution. HDNL therefore lose the opportunity to handle significant parcel volumes at a premium price. It is planned to offer a mid-range service to customers. To enable this, it is proposed that the one man operation handle items such as bikes which will create significant additional revenue.
Drop & Collect
Drop & Collect is a unique service which allows customer to drop off return parcels to a local shop through PayPoint instead of waiting for a driver to collect from their home. The driver would then pick up all collections from the local shop.
A trial has been taking place in the West Midlands for Shop Direct Group and it is proposed to roll out this service nationwide from March – May 2009. This new service provides a unique selling point (USP) for HDNL, differentiating HDNL from competitors.
Customer Experience
Since the formation of HDNL, Shop Direct Contact Centres (SDCC)- previously Optimum Contact solutions, has been the supplier of customer contact services.
The service contract came to an end this year. Following a thorough selection process, HDNL has selected Vertex to be the new supplier. Vertex is a leading UK provider of contact centre services and technology solutions with expertise in customer management.
This means that from Spring 2009 SDCC will no longer provide customer services for HDNL.
Through the partnership with Vertex, HDNL will be able to provide enhanced client and customer services which will put HDNL ahead of the competition in a number of areas
including:
- Proactive communication to increase RFT on difficult to deliver parcels.
- Effective communication to manage customer expectation where appropriate.
- Choice of redelivery options to best suit customer needs.
- Underpinning customer and client promise through integration with Track & Trace technology.
- Introducing a full range of contact channels targeted to reduce the overall contact
cost.
- The integration of client service within the contact service partner.
- The integration of depot customer service through virtual contact centre technology.
As a result of this change the client services operation will be impacted. It is proposed that the employees at Whiston be transferred to Vertex’s Knowsley site and be employed by Vertex.
Three new customer service related roles will be created within HDNL at Whiston.
In addition, the following changes to the Customer Experience are proposed:
• SMS - To allow customers the ability to nominate day of delivery for certain parcel types (e.g. POD, Failed Parcels – only applies to parcels when a valid phone number is provided).
• Replace the current carded process with a process that allows consumer choice and reduces the number of attempts required. Includes (HHT changes, depot sort change, card change, unique card number + barcode, GPS validation)
• The addition of re-delivery choice in line with premium services.
• The integration of stop and return requests with Track & Trace and HHT
• Create additional customer communication channels (Customer Web Portal, e-mail)
• Replace OTIS with a integrated Client Portal including work flow management and automation.
• Enhanced depot technology to facilitate a ‘single view of the parcel’ approach to
customer management. To be integrated with Vertex systems.
• Establish a customer management structure.
• Development of the depot administration function to align with an integrated customer management capability.
The Customer Experience Programme creates a fully integrated customer contact solution to enable more effective management of both customer and client experience to deliver a best- in-class customer service.
This has a significant impact on reducing failure costs within HDNL.
Specialised Operations
The 2 Man operation has also been experiencing a serious fluctuation in volumes. Forecasts indicate a substantial volume reduction in the second half of this financial year and into 2009/2010.
HDNL are proposing to close the Edmonton hub by September 2009 and transfer the volume predominantly to Blackpole. This will result in all colleagues in Edmonton and associated outbases being affected.
The proposal is to implement a phased run-down of Edmonton with redundancies taking effect between 1 April and 30 September 2009.
A consultation group has been formulated to discuss the details of the proposed closure. The first meeting is scheduled for 30th January 2009.
One to one sessions will be held with every impacted individual to discuss the options available. The decision may not result in redundancy for all colleagues. There may be opportunities for relocation at another site or within the business.
In addition to the Edmonton closure further work to manage costs and improve the efficiency of the operation is proposed as follows:
- Centralisation of the customer services function. The proposal is to either centralise the function in the Blackpole area or outsource it to an external service provider.
- A review of staffing levels across all sites
- A review of working practices to support additional Saturday and evening services.
- The pay and bonus scheme will also be reviewed
Next Steps
Groups have been set up to start the consultation process in relation to the proposals listed
within the statement. The consultation process will include looking at the business case,
assessing the impacts on the business and employees and time scales .
Some of these proposals will create efficiencies within HDNL and therefore, it is proposed that
a review of staffing levels take place in areas impacted by the proposed changes.. It is
anticipated this review will result in further redundancies during 2009
HDNL believe that the proposed changes are absolutely vital in safeguarding the business for
the future. The Company and The Joint Trade Unions will review the business case as part of
the consultation process.
The Shareholders have confidence in the potential for this business and have therefore
agreed to investing the funds required to make the changes. If the business can implement
the new service propositions proposed, whilst driving down costs, there is a bright future for
HDNL in the home delivery industry.
This will be a challenging and difficult time for the business and it’s employees. The commitment of all employees in getting behind the change programme is vital.
We will keep you updated on the consultation process. If you have any questions or concerns please speak to your line manager or shop steward. Questions can be sent to
HDNLinternalcommunications@hdnl.co.uk who will answer directly back to your site or direct the question to the consultation group as appropriate.
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Interesting. None of HDNL's retail customers have gone bust this last year, in fact most look decidedly healthy (ASOS, Republic, Amazon etc) - yet they use the economic downturn as an excuse to sack, as looks likely - a good 200+ employees in their desperate quest for a "profit". If HDNL thinks their staff turnover rate is dire at the moment, let's see how it gets when the remaining drivers and nightsorters are expected to "take up the slack" from these depot closures. What a bunch of incompetent muppets they are!
# posted by 
: Wednesday, 21 January 2009 18:50:00 o'clock GMT
: Wednesday, 21 January 2009 18:50:00 o'clock GMT
With all these changes coming up and talk of how the company is still making a loss how do they justify having so many managers in the depot that get well paid for doing very little. When will this be looked into as a way of saving money. The drivers as a whole manage themselves anyway.
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# posted by : Monday, 26 January 2009 17:30:00 o'clock GMT
: Monday, 26 January 2009 17:30:00 o'clock GMT Links to this post:
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